Response of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Varieties to Salicylic Acid, Potassium Silicate and Tamarind Extract in Saline Soils of Kano River Irrigation Scheme Nigeria

The experiment was carried out in the Eastern and Western sectors of Kano River Irrigation Scheme, Kano State latitude 11º 45’N and 12º 05’ N and longitude 8º 45’ E and 9º 05’ E in the Sudan Savanna Agro-ecology of Nigeria, during the dry season of 2020 and 2021. The experiment was therefore conceived with the aim of introducing improved salt tolerant varieties to farmers in addition to enhancing their tolerance using synthetic and natural plant growth regulators. The treatments consisted of four rice varieties made up of 2 salt tolerant accessions {Arica 1 and Arica 2, 1 blast resistant variety (Gawal R1) and a variety (FARO 44) as a check} these were factorially combined with foliar application of salicylic acid (0.2g in 1L of water), potassium silicate (16 g/L-1 of K2SiO3), tamarind extract 8% (320ml of extract in 1 liter of water) and a zero control (0). The treatments were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) which consisted of 16 treatments replicated six times with a farmer constituting a replication. Results have shown that plant height, leaf area index (LAI), photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), chlorophyll content and the yield were all significantly affected by varietal differences except total number of tillers per plant in 2020. However, in 2021 LAI, PAR and chlorophyll content were not significantly affected by differences due to varieties but the remaining characters differed significantly. Exogenous factors had no effect on all the characters in 2020 but significantly influenced the chlorophyll content, total number of tillers and the yield in 2021. Arica 1 and Faro 44 gave the highest yield. Among the exogenous factors Tamarind extract had significantly heavier paddy yield than the control but was similar to other exogenous factors in terms of effectiveness. Tamarind extract could therefore be suggested to farmers when growing rice under saline or sodic condition in the irrigation scheme due to its lower cost and availability.